• Wike plots Minority Caucus leadership upset
From Fred Itua, Abuja
Ahead of the composition of the various standing committees of the Senate, ranking and first time senators, have returned to the trenches to lobby for juicy committee chairmanship. This is even as the camp of former Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wife in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is plotting to cause a leadership upset in the minority caucus of the upper legislative chamber.
Though there is no constitutionally acceptable number of standing committees that the leadership of the Senate can establish, instances in the 8th and 9th Senate reveal that between 64 and 69 standing committees were named.
With only about 28 ranking senators who will statutorily be named as chairmen of standing committees, the fate of the other outstanding senators will be decided by the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio However, some key senators are already insisting on heading certain committees. Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, who headed the Senate Committee on Finance in the 9th National Assembly, is, according to sources in the Upper Chamber, fighting hard to be named chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations. Adeola, who missed the opportunity by the whiskers in the 9th Senate, offered that as a condition to support Akpabio for the position of the President of the Senate, sources familiar with the development told Saturday Sun.
Similarly, Sani Musa, who ran for the position of the Deputy President of the Senate unsuccessfully, it was also gathered, decided to step down for Jibrin Barau for the position of the Deputy President of the Senate, and, in return, retain his position as chairman of the Senate Committee on Services. Tokunbo Abiru, a first term senator, is believed to have received the nod of Akpabio to head the Senate Committee on Banking and Other Financial Institutions. The deal was reportedly struck before the inauguration of the 10th National Assembly.
Saturday Sun further gathered that two senators, both first timers, engineers and former governors – David Umahi and Gbenga Daniel, are said to be lobbying to chair the Works Committee. Enyinnaya Abaribe, one of the long-serving senators, it was also learnt, is being primed to head the Constitutionally-recognised Committee on Public Accounts. The Committee is often chaired by a member of the opposition.
Adams Oshiomhole, Salisu Mustapha and Jibrin Isah, are reportedly gunning for Committees on Petroleum (Upstream and Downstream), and Finance. Abba Moro, a member of the PDP, is lobbying to retain his position as chairman of the Committee on Federal Character, it was also gathered.
Meanwhile, Wike, who, though a member of the PDP, has been hobnobbing with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), on Thursday evening, met with the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio. The meeting was held at the National Assembly and lasted for several hours. Wike who was in black suit, left the Senate wing of the National Assembly at about 6:30pm in the convoy of Akpabio, Deputy President of the Senate, Barau and other senators like Mustapha, Isa, as well as the recently appointed Senior Special Assistant on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Abdullahi Abubakar Gumel
Wike, who is believed to have recently secured the position of the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives for his political associate, Kingsley Ogundu Chinda, is also plotting to repeat same feat in the Senate. Though the PDP controls the larger number in the Minority Caucus, other political parties are expected to be represented in the leadership configuration.
The membership configuration in the Senate shows that APC has 59 senators, PDP 36, Labour Party 8, New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) 2, Social Democratic Party (SDP) 2, APGA 1 and YPP 1.